Peace and Quiet and Open Air
by Hermies818
Summary: AU: 1934 After loosing everything in Boston, Lexie Grey must leave everything behind to start a new life in a town she's never heard of with a sister she barely knows.
1. Chapter 1

**After an unacceptably long hiatus, I have come home to Grey's Anatomy. Well, sort of. This is a 1930's AU, so the characters will not always be "in character", it just wasn't possible. Most, if not all Greys characters, will be at least mentioned. The main story will be a Slexie story but other pairings will be here as well. _NOW HEAR THIS! The most Arizona and Callie will likely do is a few flirty looks, Alex and Jo are together, and I'm going If/Then and having Owen and Callie together. I love Crowen, but story wise this just works_ better. I don't want to hear any bitching, you want to bitch go somewhere else. Enjoy the nod to what I consider the granddaddy of all medical dramas.**

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><p>The train shuddered to a stop, dust clinging to the air.<p>

"This stop, St. Elsewhere, Kansas." The conductor called as he walked through the front car.

Alexandra Caroline Grey, known as Lexie to her friends and family, lifted a gloved hand to the window and looked out at the dusty landscape. For weeks she had been traveling westward by train from her old life in Boston towards an uncertain new one in what may as well have been the Orient.

With one hand she picked at the fraying velvet lining of the seat, gathering up the courage to get off, while with the other she reached into her pocket and touched the envelope. It was postmarked March 10th, 1934, almost 6 weeks ago, and was proof that the sister she barely knew had requested she come out to live with her in the god forsaken place.

But, then again, she really had no other options. Her life had been a comfortable one before the Depression, her father had a good job as Dean of History at Boston College, her mother had been healthy and full of life, and she and her sister always had new clothes each season. When the market crashed they had lost money, everyone had, but papa had assured them it was nothing to worry about. He still had his job, they still had the house if no longer the car, and they all were still healthy. They were all going to be fine.

That is, until the fever took mama last Christmas.

After that, Lexie's world crumbled. The occasional glass of brandy her father had started having before bed after the market collapsed became a nightly drink, then two, then four. Then the school let had him go. After that, he would spend every day drinking what little money they had. Gradually things began disappearing from the house. The good silver, mama's diamond broach, the painting above the sideboard in the dining room. Pretty soon the house began looking empty as more and more things were sold off to keep the creditors at bay and the liquor cabinet stocked.

Then three weeks ago the letter came in the mail, from a sister Lexie hardly knew, asking if she would like to come live in a town forty miles southwest of Kansas City.

_"__Molly this is crazy! I can't do this!" _Lexie had protested as she sat on the edge of her bed, gripping the letter.

_"__You can and you will." _Her sister had told her firmly as she got Lexie's suitcase down from the closet._ "You can't very well stay here the way things are and this sister of ours is kind enough to let you stay with her. You'll be fine."_

_"__But I don't want to go. I've never even heard of this," _she looked at the postmark on the envelope,_ "St. Elsewhere, Kansas. It sounds horrid!"_

_"__You'll be fine." _Molly had repeated as she turned to face Lexie.

_"__But what about you?"_

Molly's face softened._ "Don't worry about me. I've got a good head on my shoulders, just like you do. Besides, someone's got to care for daddy."_

"Getting off miss?" The voice of the conductor pulled Lexie back to reality.

Lexie looked at the conductor before looking back out the window. Like it or not, this was her life now. It was all she had left. She took a deep breath and smoothed out her dress before gathered up whatever courage she had and stood to face the man.

"Yes, this is me."

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><p>The first thing she noticed as she stepped off the train and onto the tiny platform was just how dry the air was. She could almost feel the grit on her skin through her clothes. She set her suitcase on the ground and removed her jacket and hat, the heat was almost overwhelming. There wasn't even anything in the way of a station house to welcome the few disembarking travelers, only a wooden platform and a few benches that offered little protection from the relentless sun.<p>

She looked around for any sign of her sister before she realized she didn't even know what she looked like. She waited, but one by one the few people on the platform drifted off until she was the only one left standing there. Lexie's heart sank. Had her sister changed her mind? What then?

She sat down on one of the benches and put her head in her hands. What was she supposed to do now? She was miles from home, no friends, no other family, she had nothing to go back to, and no money to speak of. Well, except for the stash Molly had given her at the train station, but she was not going to touch that unless she absolutely needed it.

Lexie sighed. What would Claudette Colbert do at a time like this?

One thing she would not do. She would not sit around and do nothing. Lexie shook her head and rose to her feet. She'd figure this out, she was not going to be that helpless girl from Boston.

First things first, she would find a telephone to contact Meredith. Then, if that failed, she would find out where she lived and figure out a way to get there. Walk if she had too.

"Need some help miss?"

Lexie spun around, only to lose her balance and fall forward. Only the intervention of a pair of strong arms clad in a grey suit prevented her from making contact with the ground. She looked up at her rescuer, shielding her face from the sun.

He was definitely handsome, the grey in his suit setting off the slight grey in his hair and stubble that adorned his angular face and kind looking eyes attached to a broad shouldered frame. She looked up at him for a few seconds, wondering what her friends back home would say if they could see her now, in the arms of a handsome stranger on a train platform. All of a sudden, Lexie realized that that was exactly where she was, in the arms of a _stranger_ on a train platform.

Thankfully he realized it too and promptly helped her to her feet with an appropriately chagrined look on his face. "Are you alright miss?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you." Lexie brushed a few stray hairs behind her ear, her hat having fallen away from her in the tumble, desperately trying to remember what her friend Abigail had told her about flirting.

_"__Coy and delicate without being standoffish."_ She had instructed Lexie. She'd been skeptical, but Abby always seemed to have a string of good looking men on her arm so she must know what she was talking about. _"Give him a little smile and maybe bat your eyelashes. But don't do anything with your hair. That looks like you're trying."_

Lexie thought about how she'd smoothed down her hair with a grimace. Did that count?

"Are you waiting for someone?" He picked up her hat and brushed it off before handing it to her.

"Thank you," she smiled up at him, "I'm trying to get to my sister's house. She was supposed to pick me up but it looks like she forgot." She tried batting her eyelashes.

"Do you have something in your eye?"

Well so much for that.

"Just some dust I suppose. Not much of that in Boston."

"No I suppose not." He chuckled and looked at her suitcase. "You know, I hate to see a pretty girl such as yourself alone out here. If you want I could give you a lift."

"No really, I couldn't."

"Please, consider it an attempt to make amends for knocking you over." He smiled at her, revealing a set of dazzlingly white teeth. Lexie looked at him for a moment. Her mother would roll over in her grave if she knew she was even considering saying yes. Plus, the last thing Lexie needed was any male attention this early in her stay.

But then again, she really did need a ride. And he seemed gentlemanly enough.

"Alright." She said after deliberating for a moment.

"Great." The man's face broke out into a large grin and he extended one hand while taking her suitcase with the other. "Marcus Sloan, but you can call me Mark."

Lexie blushed slightly and accepted his hand. "Alexandra Grey, but everyone just calls me Lexie." The name Grey sparked some recognition in his eyes, along with something else Lexie couldn't quite place.

"Grey huh? You must be Meredith's sister right?"

"You know my sister?"

"It's a small town and I happen to be pretty well connected around here." He winked at her, making her blush spread. "Come on, let's get you on your way. You must be tired from traveling."

Now that he mentioned it, she could feel any energy she had slowly start draining from her. There was nothing she wanted more than a hot bath and clean bed. Mark grinned as he led her down the steps of the platform and across the road to a waiting blue hardtop Buick coupe.

"We had a car like this back in Boston." Lexie marveled as Mark opened the passenger door for her.

"Not many of them like this out here. Had to go clear out to Kansas City and bring her back. But I've always been a man who knows what he likes." He smiled and shut her door before making his way around to the driver's side. "If you think this is nice, you're in for a real treat when you get to your sisters."

She leaned her head back and felt the fine leather upholstery under her as the car started down the road leading away from the tiny town.

The town itself was made up of two parallel gravel roads connected by a shorter road that formed a T intersection at both ends. The train platform sat at the apex of one of these intersections and looked down a row of wood and brick businesses to face the large, granite town hall. Running to the left and right of the town hall were a few more businesses, a police station, a grey brick firehouse, and a post office before dissolving into a few ramshackle houses before both ends looped back around to join with the first road. Everything in the town seemed to be coated with a fine layer of dust.

"How many people live here?" She asked as she looked out the window. She was definitely not in Boston anymore.

"Maybe a hundred fifty, two hundred at the most."

She let that sink in. There had been more people than that in her entire grammar school, maybe even on her street!

As they moved further away from town, she watched as they passed by farmhouse after farmhouse, no two anything alike.

"Most people out here are farmer's first, any other occupation second." He explained. "Come planting and harvest times the town practically shuts down for field work."

"You say they're mostly farmers, but I don't see many crops." She noted as she looked out at the fields of dusty brown earth. Mark set his mouth in a grim line and gripped the wheel a little tighter.

"The droughts are hitting the area hard. Folks round here are doing all they can to earn a living these days." The car was silent for a few seconds, the air growing slightly awkward.

"What's that?" She pointed at a little red painted building on the side of the road, if for no other reason than to alleviate the tension she'd inadvertently caused. Marks shoulders relaxed in relief.

"That's the schoolhouse. Mrs. Karev teaches grades one through twelve in there."

"It doesn't look like there's a lot of room." She noted, watching the one room building go by.

"Not a lot of kids." He shrugged. "Most of them only go for half the year anyways, so they can help their parents in the fields."

A few miles down the road, Mark turned right onto a dusty road with a stone mailbox at the end of it.

"You continue a little further down that way and you'll reach the local church. Pastor Taylor's a good man, he and his wife will help you with whatever you need. They're good people."

She nodded and sat back as they continued down past field upon field of dry land. "How much land does my sister have?"

"Close to around fifteen thousand acres I think." Lexie's eyes grew wide, 15,000 acres! "Your sister's family is mighty important in this town." He pointed ahead of them. "Here's the house."

Lexie looked where he was pointing and her breath stopped short.

First off, it was huge. As they drove closer, she could see the Victorian style mansion was three stories before you got to the attic. Its clapboard exterior was painted a dusty yellow, as if it was ashamed of its size and trying to make itself smaller by blending into the landscape around it. The railing around the large wraparound porch was a crisp white, same as the front door and the trim around each window and along the grey roofline. A fat turret rose up three stories from the house's right front corner, capped by a flat top so the house looked more like a castle than a farmhouse.

Parked out front, a black Cadillac V-16 convertible sat freshly washed and gleaming in the Kansas sun.

"Not exactly what you were expecting is it?" Mark grinned at her.

"Not at all." She said breathlessly. "How…?"

"You really don't know?" He looked at her incredulously. "Wow, I knew you were estranged, I guess I didn't realized how much. Your sister's family founded St. Elsewhere."

Lexie put her head back and closed her eyes, trying not to freak out.

Mark pulled up behind the Cadillac and killed the engine. Lexie felt her breath come back in shallow gasps. The entire train ride from Kansas City she'd rehearsed what she was going to say, how she was going to act, even the way she would walk to let her sister know she was a strong, confident young woman who was not afraid of this new life. But as Mark opened her door and extended her hand, she found she could hardly move from where she sat from fear.

"You ok?"

Lexie swallowed hard and nodded. If he thought she was lying he had the good sense not to say it and instead helped her out of the car before grabbing her belongings and leading her onto the front porch.

"Thank you for the ride Mister Sloan." Lexie gave him a small smile.

"I told you, please, call me Mark. Are you sure I can't help you? After all, it's no trouble." He offered. For whatever reason he felt compelled to see she was alright.

"I'm fine, really." Lexie assured him. "Thank you Mister…Mark, but I'll be alright."

He nodded but didn't look convinced. "Alright, I hope to see you again Lexie. Good afternoon." He tipped his hat and slowly walked back to his car.

Lexie watched as he drove off, the dust cloud from his car fading into the distance, before she turned back to the front doors and took one more deep breath. She could do this, she _had_ to do this. She set her face in the most determined expression she could muster and raised her hand to the brass knocker.

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><p><strong>And chapter one is out of the way. God, it has been way too long since I wrote one of these. I wanted to try and hold off writing something during December (experiment on views) but I guess that didn't happen. If you would review for me I'd enjoy it.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**I've got a few Grey's One shots I'm working on, hopefully I'll get to post them soon if I ever get time. Spring semester is coming fast. Please remember that not all relationships are the same and not all characters are "in character".**

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><p>The door was opened by a tall blonde woman in a maid's uniform. "May I help you?" She asked with a clear English accent.<p>

"I'm Alexandra Grey, Meredith Grey's sister?" The statement came out as more of a question. She thought about pulling out the letter as some sort of proof. "You're expecting me?"

The woman only nodded. "Of course, Miss Meredith is expecting you. Come in Miss Grey."

Lexie gathered her things and tentatively entered the house. If the outside had been intimidating, the inside was even more so.

The first thing she saw upon entering was a huge, ornately carved staircase curving gracefully up the wall, each stair covered in thick red carpeting. The foyer floor was a black and white marble pattern that extended down the halls leading to the rest of the house. To the left and right were two richly appointed rooms, both filled with ornate yet tasteful furniture and artwork. The widows were all hung with expensive draperies that looked older than she was. The maid closed the front door and took Lexie's suitcase and coat before leading her down the hall, her footsteps echoing on the marble floors.

"The missus is in the solarium." The maid explained as she turned and lead Lexie through another beautifully decorated room before stopping in front of two large pocket doors and knocking.

"Come in." A female voice from within called.

The maid pulled open the doors to reveal a room that seemed to be made entirely of glass and filled with plants of all kinds. The amount of green in the room stood out starkly against the yellowy brown land outside. A woman stood with her back turned to them, her hand resting on the back of one of a pair of wrought iron chairs in the centre of the room with a glass topped coffee table in between them. She turned and looked at Lexie up and down. Lexie felt like a school child before the headmistress.

"It's nice to meet you Alexandra. I'm Meredith." The woman spoke, a slight frost in her voice.

Lexie looked at her stranger sister. She was taller than Lexie, and more than a few years older. Her face was prematurely lined but still held a unique beauty and her dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a bun. Her grey eyes seemed to take in everything at once, casting judgments on her.

"Please call me Lexie." Lexie smoothed her skirt before offering her hand. "Thank you for inviting me Meredith."

Meredith ignored the hand and sat in one of the wrought iron chairs, indicating Lexie was to sit in the other. Lexie felt her eyes on her, taking in the way she walked, that way she sat, every movement she made.

"Will that be all ma'am?" The maid asked from the door.

"For the moment, thank you Sadie." Meredith nodded at her. Sadie gave a little nod before taking Lexie's suitcase and disappearing. Meredith turned her attention back to Lexie. "Could I interest you in some tea? You must be quite tired after such a long journey."

"I would like some, or coffee if you have it." Almost immediately Lexie felt as if she had said the wrong thing, as she felt Meredith's gaze harden just slightly.

"Very well." Meredith said as she rose, moving over to a tea cart by the door. She returned a few seconds later with two cups of coffee. She hadn't even asked how Lexie took it.

"I'm terribly sorry that you had no one to meet you at the station. Avery was supposed to meet you there with the car," Meredith made a disapproving sound in her throat, "but it would appear he had more pressing matters to attend to at home."

"Really, it's not a big deal." Lexie assured her. The last thing she wanted was for someone else to get in trouble on account of her.

"I trust you weren't stuck there for long then?"

Lexie bit her lip, trying to decide if she wanted her sister to know exactly how she'd managed to make the journey from the train station to her front porch.

"No," she said slowly, "a Mister Sloan offered me a ride."

"I see." Meredith's voice trailed off, as if she was attempting to figure out how to feel about that information. After a second she gave Lexie the first real smile she'd seen on her. It was a very pretty smile Lexie decided. "Well then I'll have to thank Mark the next time he drops by."

"Mark comes here?" Lexie asked surprised, feeling slight flutter in her chest.

"From time to time." Meredith nodded, taking note of the glimmer in Lexie's eye. She finished her coffee before rising from her seat and pulling a bell cord on the wall by the pocket doors. After a few moments Sadie entered the room.

"Do you have many people living here?" Lexie asked as she watched Sadie quickly and quietly clear away the dishes, marvelling at the idea of actually being able to afford servants.

"Currently it's just Derek and myself. Sadie and Richard live with us here in the house while Avery lives a few miles down the road." Meredith explained.

"If you're done I'll show you to your room miss." Sadie said to Lexie.

"No, thank you Sadie." Meredith raised her hand with a small smile. "I'll do it myself."

She rose and motioned for Lexie to follow her. Lexie followed her back through the house and up the grand front staircase to the second floor, then up another equally grand staircase to the third floor. For a moment she thought that they were going all the way up to the attic before Meredith turned and led her down carpeted hallway with several doors and a large stained glass window at the end of it. How had she missed that on the drive up?

"Here you are." Meredith said as she stopped in front of the last door at the end of the hall and opened it. Lexie entered first and looked around.

It took her a moment to realize the bedroom was in the top floor of the turret. It was tastefully furnished with soft purple painted walls and three generously sized windows framed by white lace curtains. Her suitcase sat on top of a brass framed bed with white satin sheets sat along one wall under one of the windows while across from it, a large armoire stood as if watching over whoever occupied the bed. A white painted desk and chair sat pushed up under one of the other widows which was open, allowing the curtains to dance on the small breeze wafting in from the outside.

Lexie looked out the open window to find that she could see out to the main road. She turned her head to the left and could see the white steeple of the church. To the right, nothing but dry Kansas prairie. Next to the armoire was a door that led to a small bathroom which was shared with the hall. Everything in the room felt of a comfortable sanctuary from the outside.

"Will this be satisfactory?" Meredith asked as she watched Lexie move about the room.

"It's very nice, thank you."

Meredith nodded. For a second the two sisters stood there silently looking at one another, separated by much more than the few footsteps of space between them. Finally Meredith cleared her throat as if she was going to say something, only to decide against it and turned to go. When she got to the door, she stopped and looked back over her shoulder.

"I am sorry for your mother's death Lexie." She said before disappearing, leaving Lexie alone in the circular room. She thought about the increasingly empty row house back home. She remembered how Molly would work late into the night, mending the clothes they would have once thrown out. She remembered doing their best to hide their situation when company would come over and the shame in her sister's eyes when they had to ask their neighbor if they could borrow back their silver.

Lexie fingered the bracelet on her arm.

_"__Here," _Molly had pressed something wrapped in a handkerchief into her hand as the conductor called for boarding,_ "keep it safe."_

Lexie had folded back the lace to reveal her mother's favorite sapphire bracelet.

_"__I managed to save it from being swapped for a bottle." _Molly had explained before pulling her sister tight._ "Please be safe."_

"Oh Molls," Lexie sighed as she looked around, "if only you could see me now."

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><p><strong>You love it, you think I'm destroying the very fabric of the characters, you want more, I wont know what you think unless you tell me.<strong>


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